This invention relates to snap fastener attaching machines in general, and more particularly to a fastener registration system employed in conjunction with such machines.
Snap fasteners are widely used on a great variety of garments as men's, women's and children's clothing of all sorts and types.
Such fasteners conventionally consist of a female part and a male mating part. As such, the fastener is used in lieu of conventional buttons or zippers and has great utility and advantages in the production and manufacture of such garments. Associated with the desireable functional features of snap fasteners are other aesthetic considerations. Since a fastener is usually fabricated from a metal, such as stainless steel or brass, or from a hard plastic, and since the surface of the fastener which is exposed to view after attachment to the garment, is usually fabricated to present an appealing view; many manufacturers desire that their trademark or logo be imprinted or stamped on the exposed surface of the fastener. This enables a consumer to quickly identify the product and to further give the clothing manufacturer additional exposure, since the trademark is readily viewable when the garment is worn by a user.
As such, the manufacturer desires that when the fastener be placed on the garment, it is positioned in such a manner as to enable one to readily view the logo or trademark in the correct orientation; with respect to the manner in which the garment is worn or displayed.
Such fasteners are automatically positioned on garments by means of a well-known machine commonly indicated as a snap fastener attaching machine.
The garment to which such fasteners are to be attached is directed through the machine by an operator. The operator, by activating a switch or foot pedal causes a fastener assembly to be secured on the garment at a desired location. The automatic fastener machine serves to direct fastener parts from suitable hoppers and aligns them one above the other. Upon depression of the switch or foot pedal, the machine then performs an attaching operation or a riveting operation securing the fastener to the garment.
The mechanisms and operation of such snap fastener attaching machines are well known. Many manufacturers including the assignee herein, provide and have provided such equipment for many years.
In any event, when a fastener is associated with a logo or trademark which must be oriented with the garment so that the name or mark can be read by a consumer or another person, it presents a problem.
Namely, the portion of the fastener that is exposed to view after attachment to the garment is usually circular in shape or shaped uniformly. The prior art machines only serve to assure that the component parts of the fasteners are directed above and below the garment when the same is inserted within the confines of the machine so that a fastener can be secured. The machine cannot and does not register the fastener properly in regard to the logo without additional apparatus.
The technique for the proper alignment of such fasteners is referred to as registration and the prior art shows a number of various apparatus which serve to orient an article or a button in a desired manner with respect to a predetermined reference point. Such orientation devices may fall in the category encompassed by Class 156 involving label printing and attachment apparatus, Class 116, subclass 136.5 involving alignment techniques and Class 198.
In any event, the registration of snap fasteners poses many unique problems not usually associated with conventional alignment techniques.
For example, a basic difference in the fabrication of men's and women's clothing is that the respective garments are secured, fastened or buttoned on opposite sides.
Thus, if one employed a registration system which would properly align a logo or a writing in regard to the emplacement of a fastener on a man's shirt, for example, one might direct the shirt through the machine from left to right with the collar side passing through first. Now if one desired to emplace a fastener on a women's blouse by using the same machine, the logo would appear upside down, since the women's blouse would have to be directed with the shirt tail portion passing through first.
Hence, the prior art would use one fastener front for men's garments and one for women's. This is, of course, expensive and uneconomical. Furthermore, fasteners must be attached to pockets or flaps associated with garments. The attachment is made prior to securing the flap or pocket to the garment. Since the top edge of the pocket is usually inserted in the fastener machine, the logo would be misorientated ninety degrees by such a machine.
Essentially, many garment sections which require fastener attachment due to the shape or configuration of the same, would require a number of different registration angles to assure that the logo will be properly orientated on the garment.
Inherent in such operations is the further consideration that the operation or registration must be automatic to maintain efficient and reliable production capability. The operation of registration must be positive and reliable to prevent the wasting of products and it must be relatively divorced from operator discretion.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a registration apparatus capable of registering a logo associated with a fastener in any one of a plurality of positions depending upon the type or portion of the garment to which a fastener is to be emplaced; while further providing an efficient and reliable operation using a single snap fastener attaching machine.